Golf enthusiasts, both amateur and professional, are always seeking improved golf equipment. Whether its an improved golf ball with unique dimple designs to lengthen and control the flight of drives, balanced perimeter weighted irons to compensate for improper golf swings, or balanced putter heads to help a golfer achieve a better putting stroke, new and better golf equipment enters the sports scene each year which promises to improve scores and reduce handicaps. Perhaps no slogan is better known than the phrase "drive for show, putt for dough". Arguably, most tournaments are won on the putting greens, and perhaps this is best exemplified in the annual golf Skins tournaments where several hundred thousand dollars may be on the line on a single putt.
Golf equipment is usually primarily designed based on physics to control inertia to attain the ideal performance club. However, physical and aesthetic appearance can be equally important thus giving the golfer the confidence in the club to make great shots. Most golfers will agree that if the club doesn't look like it is precision designed and manufactured, it just won't feel right thus making the golfer inclined to find another piece of equipment. Thus, both physical attributes, as well as engineered attributes, together give the golfer the confidence and the ability to use the equipment and achieve better scores.
Perhaps no golf club is more revered than the golf putter. In fact, many golfers will bestow the putter with a name, and even talk and address the golf putter, as well as the Holy One above, when attempting those crucial putts. Special protective gloves or socks are often used to protect one's most cherished putter. Even the simplest of putters, namely, a shaft and a plain copper bar serving as the golf head, can be the perfect putter for one's game.
But aesthetics are not all that gives the golfer confidence to make putts and great scores. Balancing of the putter head is important such that inertia is controlled and one can consistently address and stroke the ball properly to make straight putts. The putter head is typically precision weighted to reduce torquing the putter head while putting. This can include weighting the putter head at the toe and heel, along the mid-section thereof, and manufacturing the putter head with multiple types of material each having different densities to achieve the best possible balanced head.
Since the sport of golf originated in England over a hundred years ago, many putter heads have been designed. While balancing the putter head has always been considered important, the ability to visually see the golf ball while both addressing and stroking is another pair of important considerations. Indicia is commonly defined on the putter to help the golfer align the striking face such that the sweet spot will strike the ball during a putt. Many designs also include uniquely designed and positioned hosels which couple the putter shaft to the putter head and which are integral to the balancing of the putter head.
However, most hosels are coupled to the putter head proximate the front ball striking surface of the putter, and thus, visually interfere with the golfer's ability to see the ball, both while addressing and putting the golf ball. Thus, the golfer's vision can become impaired, which degrades both the performance and confidence of the golfer and which can account for higher golf scores. USGA golf rules also dictate the acceptable putter designs which are approved for competitive play. One rule requires that the putter shaft tapers at at least a 10 degree angle starting no more than five inches above the bottom sole surface of the putter in the plane defined by the heel and the toe of the putter. Thus, many designed considerations come into play when designing the ultimate putter.
While many golf putters are available on the market today, none that the inventor is aware of provides a golf putter with a static and dynamically balanced putter head, which provides a ball striking surface which is entirely visible from above when addressing and putting the golf ball, and which provides a shaft allowing complete visibility of the ball and the ball striking surface while facilitating stability of the putter head.